PONTIFICIUM CONSILIUM
PRO LAICIS
1563/08/S-61/A-74
DECREE
The origins of the Union of Catholic Apostolate date back to the 9th of January, 1835, the date on which, by divine inspiration, St. Vincent Pallotti (1795-1850) decided to establish a foundation in which all the members of the People of God could participate together in the evangelical mission of the Church. St. Vincent Pallotti was motivated by a consciousness that all the baptized, in response to the “new commandment” of charity (cf. Jn 15: 12-15), are called to be actively engaged in working for the salvation of their neighbour as well as their own. He likewise held that personal apostolic initiatives would be more efficacious if carried out in a communal manner and directed towards the common mission of living and propagating the Gospel together.
Right from its very beginning, the Union of Catholic Apostolate has gathered together different communities of the faithful of every state, lay people, clergy and religious, all seeking to mould their vocations to the apostolic ideals of the Founder. Such a sharing of the same charism presupposes a necessary distinction and complementarity among the different states of life in the ecclesial communion.
As stated in article 1 of the General Statutes, “The Union of Catholic Apostolate, a gift of the Holy Spirit, is a communion of the faithful who, united with God and with one another in accordance with the charism of St. Vincent Pallotti, promote the co-responsibility of all the baptized to revive faith and rekindle charity in the Church and in the world, and to bring all to unity in Christ.”
Throughout its history the Union of Catholic Apostolate has received numerous demonstrations of esteem on the part of Church authority. With a rescript dated April 4th, 1835, the then Cardinal Vicar of Rome, Carlo Odescalchi, granted to the members of the newly established Pious Union of the Catholic Apostolate every blessing. Later, with a rescript dated July 11th of the same year, the association received “a thousand blessings” from Pope Gregory XVI. (cf. St. Vincent Pallotti, Opere Complete, IV, pp. 3, 9).
In a homily given at the church of San Salvatore in Onda in Rome on June 22nd, 1986, His Holiness John Paul II underlined the key points of the charism received by St. Vincent Pallotti. Looking toward the future, the Roman Pontiff spoke to the faithful gathered for that solemn celebration, exhorting them: “continue to increase your commitment so that that which Vincent Pallotti prophetically announced, and which the Second Vatican Council authoritatively confirmed, may become a happy reality, and that all Christians become authentic apostles of Christ in the Church and in the world!” (Teachings of John Paul II, 9/1 [1986], p. 1899).
The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, as well as the post-Conciliar Magisterium, has given special attention to associative forms of participation in the life of the Church, showing its deep esteem towards them. (cf. Decree on the apostolate of the laity, Apostolicam actuositatem, 18, 19 & 21; Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Christifideles laici, 29).
In this regard, at the beginning of the new millennium, John Paul II affirmed the importance of “the promotion of forms of association, whether of the more traditional kind or the newer ecclesial movements, which continue to give the Church a vitality that is God’s gift and a true ‘springtime of the Spirit’” (Apostolic Letter, Novo Millennio ineunte, 46).
Therefore,
The five year-period of the approval ‘ad experimentum’ of the General Statutes of the Union of Catholic Apostolate (cf. Decree of the Pontifical Council for the Laity of October 28th 2003) having elapsed;
Given the request submitted to this Dicastery by His Excellence Rev. Mgr. Séamus Freeman, S.A.C., Bishop of Ossory, and by Rev. Father Jeremiah Murphy, SAC, President and General Secretary respectively of the Union of Catholic Apostolate, seeking definitive approval of the above mentioned Statutes;
Pending the opportunity to definitively approve the General Statutes of the Union of Catholic Apostolate;
Having favourably accepted the modifications made to the General Statutes;
Given the provisions of articles 131-134 of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus regarding the Roman Curia and canon 312, § 1, 1 of the Code of Canon Law, the Pontifical Council for the Laity decrees:
1) the confirmation of the erection of the Union of Catholic Apostolate as an International Public Association of the Faithful, with juridic personality, in accord with the norms of canons 298-320 and 327-329 of the Code of Canon Law;
2) the definitive approval of its General Statutes, in the text which today has been duly authenticated and deposited in triplicate in the archives of this Dicastery.
Given at the Vatican, the twenty-eighth of October, 2008, feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles.
+ Josef Clemens Stanisław Card. Ryłko
Secretary President